Valley of the Sun | RouteThree Studios Travels

Hi ya'll! 

It's hard to believe, but I'm officially on vacation.

I've been in Phoenix since earlier last week and I've gotten a chance to get out and shop, hike, eat, and play. This isn't my first time here in the Valley of the Sun and I'm always amazed by the amount of activity going on here! Phoenix is one of the biggest cities in the United States, so its obvious that the city would be bustling at all various times of the day and night. This weekend was a fun filled 2 days of hiking and history! After this weekend, I must let it out:  I'm a closet history buff.

Big surprise, right?

But really. History is amazing. Especially early US History.

Like, before Arizona even became a state, early US History.  Arizona is an overflowing crockpot of history. Before Phoenix was even settled, Native American's controlled nearly every square mile of the surrounding lands of New Mexico and Utah.  Various tribes of Apache, Navajo, and Cherokee Indian tribes lived and died here and out of these tribes came traditions and tales.

One of the most intriguing tales in Arizona history is that of the Superstition Mountains. The name is misleading because the name actually only applies to one mountain- not an entire range.  Superstition and our adventure to Lost Dutchman State Park took us Southeast of Phoenix, near Apache Junction. The legend- and ultimately the reason how the mountain got it's name, begins during a prosperous time in gold mining, around the 1840's. In the 1870's, a man named Jacob Waltz, the "Dutchman",  is said to have located a cache of gold that had been hidden there by a Mexican family nearly 3 decades before. After the Dutchman's death, the mine became that of legend- as no one was again able to find it. Many have literally died trying to find the mine and the legend has since attracted hundreds of treasure seekers, convinced that the Lost Dutchman mine is still to be discovered. The state park has a few different hiking trails and maybe because it's on the top of mind, but there truly is a mysterious aura that surrounds Superstition... maybe I'll take up treasure hunting!

Read more about the Superstition Mountains and the legend of the Lost Dutchman here. The story is fascinating!

Meanwhile, I've spent a lot of time just plain 'ole relaxing. I seriously can't even remember the last time that I've had more than a few days off ... in a row! It's been a consistent 60+ degrees and it's been nice to spend some time in the sun and I'm not complaining!